The closing session of this year's edition of Project Life was a true memorial to personal and collective enrichment, with each person's skills being put at the service of others in hundreds of hours of volunteering over the last few months.

In her words to those present, the President of UCP, Isabel Capeloa Gil, emphasised the importance of the project, which mirrors the University's mission: "it is centred on the cultivation of the human being, their dignity, their empowerment and on using our talents as students, collaborators, teachers and researchers to make society fairer".

In 2023-24, the Projeto Vida, Volunteering at Católica brought together 343 volunteers, with whom "we celebrated, created bridges and went out to meet people," said Rita Paiva e Pona, Coordinator of the Social Responsibility Office, supporting 27 social organisations.

This was the first edition open to the entire academic community, with the creation of the Volunteer Hours Bank, and in its debut year "around 40 volunteers dedicated almost 300 hours," emphasised Human Resources Director Ana Sampaio.

As part of university outreach, workshops were also organised within the "Train to Save" cycle, such as training in basic life support, as the Director of the UCP Nursing School, Amélia Figueiredo, pointed out. Representing Mission País, the Headquarters Chaplain, Fr Miguel Vasconcelos, emphasised how "volunteering is wanting to be fair in relation to what it means to be a person."

"Volunteering at Católica is a commitment to a better world for everyone," summarised Rita Paiva e Pona. Reflecting this, Carlota Henriques, a student on the Master's programme in Communication Sciences at UCP's Faculty of Human Sciences, believes that although universities are important to teach the academic side, Católica "also gives you the humanistic background".

The student chose to commit her time to the Scholas Occurrentes association Estar Juntos, an initiative with elderly people. "What I like most is getting to know their lives and what they have to teach," the student shared, noting that between dances and games, the "touch touches their hearts" and creates bonds of friendship.

For Shirley Silva, a student at FCH, volunteering at Ajuda de Mãe and Pedalar sem Idade "was also a form of welcoming". She believes that "kindness is a cycle" and fondly remembers the stories she discovered while volunteering at Pedalar sem Idade. At Ajuda de Mãe, she did babysitting and gave training sessions on food.

Maria Teresa Silva and Leonor Araújo, members of the Católica Lisbon Student's Union and students at UCP, shared the good experience of organising a peddy paper on Giving Tuesday and a Christmas party for the children of the Santa Teresa Association. They want to do even more in the future and have already planned activities as diverse as tutoring secondary school students, supporting animals and planting trees.

Representing the employees who embraced this project, Rita Sacadura Fonseca from CATÓLICA LISBON's Careers & Talent Office gave support to a welcome centre during World Youth Day. As part of skills volunteering, Rita gave training sessions, where she put her skills and knowledge "at the service of people who don't have easy access" to them. She was struck by the joy of the participants and their "interest and restlessness to evolve". "I am very happy to belong" to an organisation that makes this volunteering possible, which is also "an appreciation of our skills".

Pedro Ribeiro, responsible for Fundraising, Projects and Liaison with Corporate Social Responsibility, and Carlota Silva, Technical Director and Coordinator of the Lisbon Delegation ofCASA – Centro de Apoio ao Sem-Abrigo, Lúcia Martins, responsible for Volunteering and Logistics, and Rita Sousa Rêgo, responsible for Fundraising and Communication, from Apoio à Vida, and Sister Júlia Barroso, Director of the Santa Teresa Association, were also present at this session, which was followed by a get-together with the supported institutions.